There is no denying that our stars share a special bond with their staff. Tinsel town graffiti is on how our film icons have, time and afain supported their private personnel at any time of trouble. Be it make-up artistes, hair dressers, p[ersonal bodyguards or chauffeurs, after a point of time, the all become an integral part of a star’s family. And it is not without reason-they’re the ones who spend more time with the stars than anyone else. Sometimes they play multiple roles too-that of confidantes, advisers and even love messengers. Many a time, you have actors sharing their deepest secrets with them, making the bond between them even more special.
That’s why it isn’t surprising when stars are always so reluctant to change their staff. And when it comes to the crux, during any crisis , the movie idols don’t think twice before standing up in defence of their loyal staffers, come what may! That’s exactly how Saif Ali Khan reacted following an incident in Philadelphia on the sets of Renzil D’Silva’s untitled film, produced by Karan Johar. When Saif’s make-up man was dragged into a physical harassment scandal, the actor rose up to his rescue and played the hero’s role in real life too. Renzil’s film starring Saif, Kareena and Vivek Oberoi has been generating a lot of buzz of late. This is one film, which Saif is actually looking foward to and what makes it all the more special is his first on-screen pairing with Kareena.
This is also a special year for Renzil as he branches out from writing to direction. Also controversies regarding its title, Jihaad, is on in full force. The film was also supposed to star Tara Sharma, but now Minnisha Lamba will be essaying the part. For the first time, Kareena and Saif will be locking lips, and this will also be the first of Dharma Productions release after their recently signed world wide distribution deal with UTV Motion Pictures. The last schedule of the film, was held in Philadelphia, where all the action took place. Like any film shot abroad, this one too had a lot of foreign cast and crew. On long outdoors, particularly outside the country, people within the unit tend to come together, and that is why no one particularly raised an eyebrow when Saif’s make-up man and Man Friday, Lakhan Singh and a girl from the foreign cast began getting overfriendly.
Sources say that things went out of control when the girl accused Lakhan of taking his friendly overtures to another level, and accused him of inappropriate behaviour. All hell broke loose when she complained to the Swiss company through which she got the job on the film. As they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. The matter became downright ugly as the entire unit was in a state of panic. The charge was rather serious and especially in a country like US, something like this would not be taken lightly. But Saif had no clue of this as he was busy with Kareena, but he was shocked at the turn of events. He also tried to reason out with the unit, but the girl was bent on pressing charges.
That’s when he lost his cool. The suave actor, believed that his make up man was being made a culprit when the girl played the victim, even though they’d both been doing the mating dance all along. It was then decided that Lakhan be sent back to India, but Saif was adamant that his make up man, as good as family, was innocent. He firmly argued that both were to be blamed, so if Lakhan was to be removed, so should the girl. Once Saif was back in India, Lakhan Singh resumed his duties and the actor was a content man once again. Now, onewon’t blame him if the make up man is even more committed towards Saif than ever before.